History of the Great Reformation Part 7

They sometimes had recourse to more expeditious proceedings than the scaffold itself. George Winkler, pastor of Halle, having been summoned before Archbishop Albert in the spring of 1527, for having administered the sacrament in both kinds, had been acquitted. As this minister was returning home along an unfrequented road in the midst of the woods, he was suddenly attacked by a number of hors.e.m.e.n, who murdered him, and immediately fled through the thickets without taking anything from his person.[116] "The world," exclaimed Luther, "is a cavern of a.s.sa.s.sins under the command of the devil; an inn, whose landlord is a brigand, and which bears this sign, _Lies and Murder_; and none are more readily murdered therein than those who proclaim Jesus Christ."

[116] Mox enim ut interfecerunt, aufugerunt per avia loca, nihil praedae aut pecuniae capientes.--(Cochl. p. 152.)

At Munich George Carpenter was led to the scaffold for having denied that the baptism of water is able by its own virtue to save a man.

"When you are thrown into the fire," said some of his brethren, "give us a sign by which we may know that you persevere in the faith."--"As long as I can open my mouth, I will confess the name of the Lord Jesus."[117] The executioner stretched him on a ladder, tied a small bag of gunpowder round his neck, and then flung him into the flames.

Carpenter immediately cried out, "Jesus! Jesus!" and the executioner having turned him again and again with his hooks, the martyr several times repeated the word Jesus, and expired.

[117] Dum os aperire licebit, servatoris nostri nomen profiteri nunquam intermittam.--(Scultet. ii. p. 110.)

[Sidenote: PERSECUTIONS--KEYSER.]

At Landsberg nine persons were consigned to the flames, and at Munich twenty-nine were thrown into the water. At Scherding, Leonard Keyser, a friend and disciple of Luther, having been condemned by the bishop, had his head shaved, and being dressed in a smock-frock, was placed on horseback. As the executioners were cursing and swearing, because they could not disentangle the ropes with which he was to be bound, he said to them mildly: "Dear friends, your bonds are not necessary; my Lord Christ has already bound me." When he drew near the stake, Keyser looked at the crowd and exclaimed: "Behold the harvest! O Master, send forth thy labourers!" He then ascended the scaffold and said: "O Jesu, save me! I am thine." These were his last words.[118] "Who am I, a wordy preacher," exclaimed Luther, when he received the news of his death, "in comparison with this great doer?"[119]

[118] Incenso jam igne, clara voce proclamavit: _Tuus sum Jesu! Salva me!_--(Seckend. ii. p. 85.)

[119] Tam impar verbosus praedicator, illi tam potenti verbi operator.--(L. Epp. iii. p. 1214.)

Thus, the Reformation manifested by such striking works the truth that it had come to re-establish; namely, that faith is not, as Rome maintains, an historical, vain, dead knowledge,[120] but a lively faith, the work of the Holy Ghost, the channel by which Christ fills the heart with new desires and with new affections, the true worship of the living G.o.d.

[120] Si quis dixerit fidem non esse veram fidem, licet non fit viva, aut eum qui fidem sine charitate habet, non esse christianum, anathema sit.--(Conc. Frid. Sess. 6, p. 28.)

These martyrdoms filled Germany with horror, and gloomy forebodings descended from the thrones among the ranks of the people. Around the domestic hearth, in the long winter evenings, the conversation wholly turned on prisons, tortures, scaffolds, and martyrs; and the slightest noise alarmed the old men, women, and children. These narratives gained strength from mouth to mouth; the rumour of a universal conspiracy against the Gospel spread through all the Empire. Its adversaries, taking advantage of this terror, announced with a mysterious air that they must look during this year (1528) for some decisive measure against the Reform.[121] One scoundrel resolved to profit by this state of mind to satisfy his avarice.

[121] Nescio quid mirari quod hoc anno contra reformationem expectandum sit.--(Seckend. ii. p. 101.)

[Sidenote: PACK'S FORGERY.]

No blows are more terrible to a cause than those which it inflicts upon itself. The Reformation, seized with a dizziness, was on the verge of self-destruction. There is a spirit of error that conspires against the cause of truth, beguiling by subtlety;[122] the Reformation was about to experience its attacks, and to stagger under the most formidable a.s.sault,--perturbation of thought, and estrangement from the ways of wisdom and of truth.

[122] 2 Corinthians xi. 3.

Otho of Pack, vice-chancellor to Duke George of Saxony, was a crafty and dissipated man,[123] who took advantage of his office, and had recourse to all sorts of practices to procure money. The Duke having on one occasion sent him to the Diet of Nuremberg as his representative, the Bishop of Merseburg confided to him his contribution towards the imperial government. The Bishop having been afterwards called upon for this money, Pack declared that he had paid it to a citizen of Nuremberg, whose seal and signature he produced.

This paper was a forgery; Pack himself was the author of it.[124] This wretch, however, put an impudent face on the matter, and as he was not convicted, he preserved the confidence of his master. Erelong an opportunity presented itself of exercising his criminal talent on a larger scale.

[123] h.o.m.o erat versutus, et praeterea prodigus, quo vitio ad alia inductus est.--(Seckend. ii. p. 94.)

[124] It is still to be seen in the records at Dresden.

No one entertained greater suspicions with regard to the Papists than the Landgrave of Hesse. Young, susceptible, and restless, he was always on the alert. In the month of February 1528, Pack happening to be at Ca.s.sel to a.s.sist Philip in some difficult business, the Landgrave imparted to him his fears. If any one could have had any knowledge of the designs of the Papists, it must have been the vice-chancellor, one of the greatest enemies to the Reform. The crafty Pack heaved a sigh, bent down his eyes, and was silent. Philip immediately became uneasy, entreated him, and promised to do nothing that would injure the Duke. Then, Pack as if he had allowed an important secret to be torn from him with regret, confessed that a league against the Lutherans had been concluded at Breslau on the Wednesday following _Jubilate_ Sunday, 12th May 1527; and engaged to procure the original of this act for the Landgrave, who offered him for this service a remuneration of ten thousand florins. This was the greatest transaction that this wretched man had ever undertaken; but it tended to nothing less than the utter overthrow of the Empire.

The Landgrave was amazed: he restrained himself, however, wishing to see the act with his own eyes before informing his allies. He therefore repaired to Dresden. "I cannot," said Pack, "furnish you with the original: the Duke always carries it about his person to read it to other princes whom he hopes to gain over. Recently at Leipsic, he showed it to Duke Henry of Brunswick. But here is a copy made by his highness's order." The Landgrave took the doc.u.ment, which bore all the marks of the most perfect authenticity. It was crossed by a cord of black silk, and fastened at both ends by the seal of the ducal chancery.[125] Above was an impression from the ring Duke George always wore on his finger, with the three quarterings that Philip had so often seen; at the top, the coronet, and at the bottom, the two lions. He has no more doubts as to its authenticity. But how can we describe his indignation as he read this guilty doc.u.ment? King Ferdinand, the Electors of Mentz and of Brandenburg, Duke George of Saxony, the Dukes of Bavaria, the Bishops of Salzburg, Wurtzburg, and Bamberg, have entered into a coalition to call upon the Elector of Saxony to deliver up the arch-heretic Luther, with all the apostate priests, monks, and nuns, and to re-establish the ancient worship. If he make default, his states are to be invaded, and this prince and his descendants are to be for ever dispossessed. The same measure was next to be applied to the Landgrave, only ("it was your father-in-law, Duke George," said Pack to Philip, "who got this clause inserted") his states shall be restored to him in consideration of his youth, if he becomes fully reconciled to the Holy Church. The doc.u.ment stated moreover the contingents of men and money to be provided by the confederates, and the share they were to have in the spoils of these two heretical princes.[126]

[125] Cui filum seric.u.m circ.u.mligatum, et sigillum cancellariae impressum erat.--(Seck. ii. p. 94.)

[126] Hortleber, De Bello Germanico, ii. p. 579.

Many circ.u.mstances tended to confirm the authenticity of this paper.

Ferdinand, Joachim of Brandenburg, and George of Saxony, had in fact met at Breslau on the day indicated, and an evangelical prince, the Margrave George, had seen Joachim leave Ferdinand's apartments, holding in his hand a large parchment to which several seals were attached. The agitated Landgrave caused a copy to be taken of this doc.u.ment, promised secrecy for a time, paid Pack four thousand florins, and engaged to make up the sum agreed upon, if he would procure him the original. And then, wishing to prevent the storm, he hastened to Weimar to inform the Elector of this unprecedented conspiracy.

"I have seen," said he to John and his son, "nay more--I have had in my hands, a duplicate of this horrible treaty. Signatures, seals--nothing was wanting.[127] Here is a copy, and I bind myself to place the original before your eyes. The most frightful danger threatens us--ourselves, our faithful subjects, and the Word of G.o.d."

[127] Nam is affirmabat se archetypon vidisse, commemorabat sf????da?.--(Corp. Ref. i. p. 986.)

[Sidenote: ADVICE OF THE REFORMERS.]

The Elector had no reason to doubt the account the Landgrave had just given him: he was stunned, confounded, and overpowered. The promptest measures alone could avert such unheard of disasters: everything must be risked to extricate them from certain destruction. The impetuous Philip breathed fire and flames;[128] his plan of defence was already prepared. He presented it, and in the first moment of consternation he carried the consent of his ally, as it were by a.s.sault. On the 9th March 1528, the two princes agreed to employ all their forces to defend themselves, and even to take the offensive, and to sacrifice life, honour, rank, subjects, and states, to preserve the Word of G.o.d.

The Dukes of Prussia, Mecklenburg, Luneburg, and Pomerania, the Kings of Denmark and Poland, and the Margrave of Brandenburg, were to be invited to enter into this alliance. Six hundred thousand florins were destined for the expenses of the war; and to procure them, they would raise loans, pledge their cities, and sell the offerings in the churches.[129] They had already begun to raise a powerful army.[130]

The Landgrave set out in person for Nuremberg and Ans.p.a.ch. The alarm was general in those countries; the commotion was felt throughout all Germany,[131] and even beyond it. John Zapolya, King of Hungary, at that time a refugee at Cracow, promised a hundred thousand florins to raise an army, and twenty thousand florins a month for its maintenance. Thus a spirit of error was misleading the princes; if it should carry away the Reformers also, the destruction of the Reformation was not far distant.

[128] Mirabiliter incensus erat.--(Corp. Ref. i. p. 986.)

[129] Venditisque templorum donariis.--(Seck. ii. p. 95.)

[130] Magno studio validum comparaverunt ambo exercitum.--(Cochl. p.

171.)

[131] Non leviter commotos esse nostrorum animos.--(Corp. Ref. ii. p.

986.)

But G.o.d was watching over them. Supported on the rock of the Word, Melancthon and Luther replied: "It is written, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy G.o.d." As soon as these two men whom the danger threatened (for it was they who were to be delivered up to the papal power) saw the youthful Landgrave drawing the sword, and the aged Elector himself putting his hand on the hilt, they uttered a cry, and this cry, which was heard in heaven, saved the Reform.

Luther, Pomera.n.u.s, and Melancthon immediately forwarded the following advice to the Elector: "Above all things, let not the attack proceed from our side, and let no blood be shed through our fault. Let us wait for the enemy, and seek after peace. Send an amba.s.sador to the Emperor to make him acquainted with this hateful plot."

[Sidenote: LUTHER'S PACIFIC COUNSEL.]

Thus it was that the faith of the children of G.o.d, which is so despised by politicians, conducted them aright, at the very moment when the diplomatists were going astray. The Elector and his son declared to the Landgrave that they would not a.s.sume the offensive.

Philip was in amazement. "Are not the preparations of the Papists worthy an attack?" asked he.[132] "What! we will threaten war, and yet not make it! We will inflame the hatred of our antagonists, and leave them time to prepare their forces! No, no; forward! It is thus we shall secure the means of an honourable peace."----"If the Landgrave desires to begin the war," replied the Reformer, "the Elector is not obliged to observe the treaty; for we must obey G.o.d rather than men.

G.o.d and the right are above every alliance. Let us beware of painting the devil on our doors, and inviting him as G.o.dfather.[133] But if the Landgrave is attacked, the Elector ought to go to his a.s.sistance; for it is G.o.d's will that we preserve our faith." This advice which the Reformers gave, cost them dear. Never did man, condemned to the torture, endure a punishment like theirs. The fears excited by the Landgrave were succeeded by the terrors inspired by the Papist princes. This cruel trial left them in great distress. "I am worn away with sorrow," cried Melancthon; "and this anguish puts me to the most horrible torture.[134] The issue," added he, "will be found on our knees before G.o.d."[135]

[132] Landgravius praeparamenta adversariorum pro agressione habebat.--(Seck. ii. p. 95.)

[133] Man darf den Teufel nicht uber die Thur malen, noch ihn zu gevattern bitten.--(L. Epp. iii. p. 321.)

[134] Curae vehementer cruciarunt.--(Corp. Ref. i. p. 988.)

[135] ?? ????as? ?e??.--(Ibid. p. 988.)

The Elector, drawn in different directions by the theologians and the politicians, at last took a middle course: he resolved to a.s.semble an army, "but only," said he, "to obtain peace." Philip of Hesse at length gave way, and forthwith sent copies of the famous treaty to Duke George, to the Dukes of Bavaria, and to the Emperor's representatives, calling upon them to renounce such cruel designs. "I would rather have a limb cut off," said he to his father-in-law, "than know you to be a member of such an alliance."

[Sidenote: SURPRISE OF THE PAPIST PRINCES.]

The surprise of the German courts, when they read this doc.u.ment, is beyond description. Duke George immediately replied to the Landgrave that he had allowed himself to be deceived by unmeaning absurdities; that he who pretended to have seen the original of this act was an infamous liar, and an incorrigible scoundrel; and that he called upon the Landgrave to give up his authority, or else it might well be thought that he was himself the inventor of this impudent fabrication.

King Ferdinand, the Elector of Brandenburg, and all the pretended conspirators made similar replies.

Philip of Hesse saw that he had been deceived;[136] his confusion was only exceeded by his anger. He had therefore himself justified the accusations of his adversaries who called him a hot-headed young man, and had compromised to the highest degree the cause of the Reformation and that of his people. He said afterwards, "If that had not happened, it would no more happen now. Nothing that I have done in all my life has caused me greater vexation."

[136] Wir fuhlten da.s.s wir betrogen waren.--(Hortleber, iv. p. 567.)

Pack fled in alarm to the Landgrave, who caused him to be arrested; and envoys from the several princes whom this scoundrel had compromised met at Ca.s.sel, and proceeded to examine him. He maintained that the original act of the alliance had really existed in the Dresden archives. In the following year the Landgrave banished him from Hesse, showing by this action that he did not fear him. Pack was afterwards discovered in Belgium; and at the demand of Duke George, who had never shown any pity towards him, he was seized, tortured, and finally beheaded.